I was going through my 1,000 emails with my finger on the delete button when one caught my eye, "180,000 Tx Orthopedic NP". This email is from a headhunting company that often includes me in their mailing list. I shouldn't feel honored as it's just an email blast that is sent out fishing, literally, for talent that is looking for a change.
Let me be honest with you, healthcare sucks, no matter what side of the aisle you're on these days. That's not to say that so-and-so Doc, PA, NP, or nurse isn't good and in it for the right reason, but the system, from the waits, to the overcrowding, to being a number, to the insurance companies, well suck.
Being on the patient and provider side I see if both ways. One thing that I can say, if you are a patient and aren't in the know or don't have an advocate on your side, you can just become a number with no one directing you to proper treatment. Most patients are trusting, and they take what they're told as gold, even if it's from a borderline provider looking to discharge a patient or send them off to another provider. For inpatients, that could mean you being caught up in the quagmire of being sent to "rehab", which these days is a mask for spending time in a long term care facility which offers "rehabilitation" in addition to nursing home type services. We're in a time of "Get em' in and get em' out".
Retention is a big problem in healthcare, especially with nurses. Nurses with decades long experience are looking to either leave the bedside or retire altogether. Nursing has morphed from patient-focused to computer-focused care. Nurses have become case managers and computer feeders, rather than spending most of their shifts with patients, it's "feeding" the computer either at the nurses station or on that "COW", which is a computer on wheels. I tell people I love being a nurse, but nursing, these days, just plain sucks.
So not only do I get emails often for nursing jobs I also get the advanced practice jobs as well. Travel jobs pay big bucks if you're in the position to travel. But you have to be flexible and on top of your game for you to be successful. I know nurses that take travel assignments around the calendar year based on the weather alone. Thirteen weeks here, then there, and then back.
So in the latest CI Group email I opened I saw a new angle they were throwing at me, or at least out there. "....located in the "Bass Fishing Capital of Texas" was in the email which was just a worm dangled off a hook. And what interested me was how does this company know I like to fish, and are a nurse practitioner? Now sending this to someone who is a golfer or surfer or a hiker wouldn't increase their chance of snagging new talent. Somehow, there must n algorithm or some type of AI that "knows" what a prospective provider is into?
My fisherwoman, well recruiter, Sheryl Patel, sent me her calendar for me to pick a 15-minute time slot to discuss this exciting opportunity. Of course I would have a list of questions in addition to discussing the $180,000 annual salary. Like do they have access to private waters, does the company have access to boats, and are there good fly fishing opportunities down there? Truth be told, I'm not even a good candidate as I am not an orthopedic NP, but a psychiatric-mental health one which carries a different scope of practice. You wouldn't want some one who treats schizophrenia or bipolar disorder treating you for a post-op hip or knee replacement.
So I looked at other emails they have sent me. The one below popped up from Alaska. "140,000 + depending on experience and production incentives". Production incentives? What does that mean? Oh, it means cramming in as many patients into a day as you can. Been there, done that, no thank you.
This job wouldn't be your "Let's start you on some Prozac and see you in a couple of weeks". Alaska ranks high in alcohol and drug dependence when compared to our other 50 states. And addiction and mental health go hand in hand so the prospective candidate would have a
schedule full of patients with addiction related needs. "Ketamine experience a plus", which is a treatment modality used for treatment resistant depression. Basically, but not downplaying it, patients come in for "sessions" where they "trip", like hallucinate, which improves their mood. Again, not my thing.
But they did dangle an interesting worm with the job description, a "Hunter and fisherman's paradise with spectacular salmon and halibut fishing on beautiful lakes and rivers". Do they know how hard it is to get a fly down to those bottom dwellers? But it can be done.
My experience using sinking lines has maxed me out to a 450 gr. sinking line. Over there, or up there, wherever Alaska is, calls for 700 gr sinking lines. I think I'll stick to tossing crab flies in the troughs using intermediate lines when searching for those flatfish here in New Jersey. But the chance to land a 250-pound halibut on the fly does sound interesting.
In order for Ms. Patel to pique my interest in advanced practice nursing jobs across the United States she should spend more time on this blog. Doesn't she know we're honing in on South Carolina? A quick search on Indeed brought up a few possibilities.
The one thing that's missing from the Indeed job bait is the fishing in and around Hilton Head. No mention of redfish, tarpon, jacks, or sheepshead. But what's good to know is there are some solid paying jobs down there if, rather when, we make the move. When I was talking to Billy Hoblitzell about relocating he emphatically recommended that "Make sure you rent down there before you buy". I've talked with many people whop thought the grass was greener somewhere else only to return to they natal states.
I could also take my nursing professor title on the road. I see opportunities at the University of South Carolina in their baccalaureate nursing degree program. I liked the nice little $50 an hour nursing tutor job which would give me the flexibility to stay in the game without the rigors of full-time professorship. There's also opportunities at the Technical College of the Lowcountry which offers associates degree nursing programs. Now that's in my wheelhouse.
Whatever the future holds I'm thankful to have a nursing license in hand. That license offers the holder a wide variety of opportunities in various settings across the United States. I'll keep my eyes open for career opportunities down in South Carolina, specifically for those that mention the the area around Hilton Head the "Redfish Fishing Capital of South Carolina".